Wood block floor



R. G. BRUCE A1,808,592

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Il@ milla' n r l n i l l s I Patented June 2, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROBERT G. BRUCE, OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR TO E. L. BRUCE COMPANY, 0F

' MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE WOOD BLOCK FLOOR Appncation med may 27, 1929. serial No. 366,338.

-My invention relates'to wood block floors and one of the objects is to provide a door of this type that will have some of the characteristics in appearance of a tile floor and in whichthe outline of each block will bel brought out in relief.

A further object is the production of a block that can be completely finished at the factory so that after it is laid in position in the Hoor, it will require no further surface finishing at the time of laying and there will Fig. 1; ig. 3 is a erspective view of a block; and Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of a block. The blocks that are used are preferably made from a plurality of strips of wood, 10, with the grain running lengthwise. The strips are joined along their longitudinal edges'by the customary tongue and groove joint 11. For holding the strips of the block .j

tightly in assembled relationship, a metaltie 12 has its edges 13 forced into biting engagement with the sides of the groove 14. For uniting one block with the adjacent block in the production of the iloor, I use a suitable cooperating tongue and groove relationship on the adjacent blocks, that shown comprising a tongue 15 along one longitudinal'edge of the block and a similar tongue 16 along one transverse edge of the block, the adjacent corners 'being cut away' at 17. 2 Along the other longitudinal edge is a groove 18 and along the other transverse edge is a groove 19.

It will be clear that when the blocks are laid in position on the subioor 20 that the tongue 16 engages a groove on anadjacent block located similar to the groove 18 and that the ton e 15 engages aV grooveon an adjacent lock located similar to the groove 19.

The blocks can be laid on the subfloor 20 and held in position by means of a nonsettin plastic cement 26. The strips 10 are provi ed on their underside with a suitable 1-hollow-back. 21. Between the stripsl 10,

the customary relief 22 may be provided. The tongue and groove connection 11 is the conventional one, except that the abutting faces 23 are preferably at right angles to the Aface of the strips.

After the block has been fabricated, it is treated with a suitable olea inous impregnating composition to make t e wood moisture resistant.-

The upper edges of` each block are bevelled'- oiz at 24. When the blocks are laid in the floor this will provide a groove or depression 25 around each block that will be about one-V eighth of an inch acrossand of about the same depth.

The blocks, having been made and the edges bevelled off, are then individually iinished b sanding, scraping, waxing, polishing, an coloring if desired.

That is to say, instead of laying the blocks in the condition of finish in which flooring is ordinarily laid, I do all thesurface finishing before laying the blocks, and at the `factory. A- oor layer has merely to lay the blocks in position and the floor is immediately ready for use.

Due to the fact that the blocks are sanded j and scraped individually, there will be a slight difference in thickness. If the edges of the blocks are square, any slight difference in the thickness ofthe blocks is immediately apparent where vtwo square edges are brought sharply together. There maybe other causes of sli htunevenness thanthat due to varyin thic esses of the blocks. The elimination o the square .ed es by the vuse of tlie oove 25 permits of sli t inequalities in f5 the evel of adjacent bloc without being readily apparent to the eye.

The presence of the groove or depression around each block also reduces a desired optical effect b 'virtue o the shadow that is cast on the si es of certain of the grooves,

de ending of course on the direction of th lig t that is cast on the floor.4

The grooves cause the blocks to stand out i'nrelief producing somewhat the effect of tiles. They also break upthe plane reflect-k ing surface that is present where the edges of the blocks are square.

In order to further bring out the tileeifect, I may stain the blocks at the factory with v stains of various colors as a part of the finishing operation and then lay the oor with blocks of contrasting colors. As shown in f Fig. 1 the blocks 26 may be green and the blocks 27 may be red.

The size of a floor the apparent size of a room. Small blocks in block has an'effect on l -accesses with the grain of the wood running lengthwise of the strips.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a wood block, the face of the block being provided. with a final surface finish before lalyinlg the im block in position for use in a pane a the.l face edges of the block being bevelled andthe grain o the block running 1n the same plane asIthesaidface.h f1 mx ,to

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a small room will makev the room appear l larger than would be the case if larger blocks were used. Bringing into relief and making v 80 distinctive, the partlcular size of the'block,

by means-of the shading that is reduced by l the ve enhances the effect o the size of `the locks.

-done neatly by using a stencil havin an opening the'size of the block and in whic the downturned edges of theopenin in the stencil will 'fit in the V- ooves 25, t us preventing the color on the rush from getting on an ad acent block of a different color.

A1. A their si es in abutting relationshi ,the grain of the' wood of adjacent blocks ing at an angle to eachother and running in the same plane as the face of the block, open ooves surrounding the faces of the blocks, t e said j outline of veach block. f y

`2. A panel formed of wood blocks of contrastin colors and having their sides in abutting re ationship vthe grain of the-wood of adjacent blocks being at an angleto each face of the block, open groove's surrounding f the faces. of the blocks, t

/ Afterthe iioor has been in use, it may be 85 desirable to recolor the blocks. 'This' can be anel formed of wood blocks having grain and grooves bringing intovrelief the other and running in the same plane as the 'w e said colors, grain and grooves-bringing into relief the outline so' of each block.

block, the face ofthe block being provided with a final surface finish before lalyinlg the f block inposition for use in a pane a the face edges of the block beingbevelled, the 05 block being formed of a plurality of strips,

3. As a new article of manufacture, a wood -I 

